Why F1 needs another 'old' Hockenheim

Formula 1 returns to Hockenheim this weekend after missing 2015, but the legacy of the iconic old layout looms large over not just the German Grand Prix, but the calendar as a whole

Hockenheim is used to existing in the shadow cast by another, greater track. After all, the fearsome original Nurburgring has been the spiritual home of racing in Germany ever since it opened in 1927.

But today, Hockenheim has a more pressing shadow to deal with, one cast by, well, itself. And it's a shadow that is cast over all of grand prix racing in these days of increasingly homogenised circuits.